The Environmental Working Group released a new Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change and Health that explains the relative benefits, both for health and for the environment, of eating more legumes and vegetables and less meat. The report recommends some simple actions that everyone can take to reduce the impact of the human diet on the environment, and perhaps shed a few pounds and improve heart health along the way. The main tenets of the report to achieve a healthier and more environmentally sustainable diet are very basic: eat less and waste nothing; eat more plants; eliminate meat and cheese at least once a week, and substitute sustainably-fished seafood or poultry for beef or lamb whenever possible.

One diet that rates highly in environmental sustainability is the macrobiotic diet, an ancient diet proven to be effective for healthful living. Originally from Japan, the principle behind the macrobiotic diet combines tenets of Zen Buddhism with a Western-style vegetarian diet. The word "macrobiotic" comes from the Greek and essentially means "long life" or "great life." If you're drawn to the concept of eating a natural, organic, plant-based diet and embracing a Zen-like spirituality in both your life and food selections – and lowering your diet’s carbon footprint along the way -- then a macrobiotic diet may be for you.

But a macrobiotic diet requires time to prepare and diligence in sourcing the proper ingredients. This time and effort requirement has made it difficult for many to pursue a macrobiotic diet lifestyle, until now.

CarbonFree® Business Partner Macro-Mediterranean Holistic Nutrition provides a simple solution – they offer nationwide meals home delivery service of their 100% vegan meals, incorporating traditional Mediterranean foods and spices, and utilizing macrobiotic principles of food preparation. And Macro-Mediterranean Holistic Nutrition has taken an extra step to enhance the sustainability of their operation by making the commitment to be a CarbonFree® business. They’re neutralizing all annual operational emissions while recycling and composting over ninety percent of the waste generated by production en route to becoming a “zero waste” company.

Delivery to the Boston area is free and they offer economical and carbon neutral shipping options to the rest of the country.

“We have partnered with Carbonfund.org to help us achieve the goal of having a positive effect on the planet that sustains us by working with them to calculate our carbon footprint, and then donating in excess of that amount to help fund Carbonfund.org's carbon reduction projects that invest in renewable energy, energy efficiency, reforestation and avoided deforestation,” explains Jeremy L. Hayward-Thomas, President of Macro-Mediterranean Holistic Nutrition. “Through these donations, we try to do our small part to help support Carbonfund.org in their initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions at a global scale, and feel like this way our efforts can go beyond just what we could achieve on our own.”

Evaluate the carbon footprint of your weekly diet and consider making some changes that will reduce the carbon emissions from your meal choices and may well improve your health along the way.

BOSTON, April 26, 2013 – Luggage Forward, the leading provider of doorstep to destination luggage delivery, marks the fifth anniversary of offering carbon-neutral door-to-door luggage shipments for travelers worldwide. Luggage Forward’s Carbon Offset Program began in 2008 in partnership with Carbonfund.org, the leading nonprofit provider of carbon offset and climate solutions.

Since the program’s inception, thousands of clients have chosen to offset the carbon emissions generated shipping luggage from their home directly to their destination. The amount of carbon offset during the life of this program is equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions from more than 41,000 gallons of gasoline consumed, or the equivalent of taking 76 passenger vehicles off the road for a year.

“Many of our clients appreciate having the option to offset the carbon impact of their travel, so that the spectacular places they visit can be preserved for generations to come,” said Zeke Adkins, Co-Founder of Luggage Forward, “we’re pleased to have given our clients this choice since 2008.”

Luggage Forward was the first, and remains the only, door-to-door luggage delivery service to offer such a program. However, many major shipping providers have since joined this effort and now offer carbon neutral shipping. To mark the fifth consecutive year of participation in the CarbonFree® Shipping Program, Carbonfund.org will be planting 50 trees in recognition of Luggage Forward at the end of the year.

About Luggage ForwardSince 2004, Luggage Forward has set the standard in door-to-door delivery of luggage and sports equipment. The smart alternative to carrying and checking bags, Luggage Forward’s service is transforming today’s travel experience for those who demand the utmost in convenience, reliability and predictability. By leveraging a worldwide network of shipping partners, innovative technology and honest, unparalleled customer care Luggage Forward guarantees that bags will be delivered safely and on-time.

In addition to being a Virtuoso® Preferred Supplier, the company is the exclusive luggage delivery provider for many of the world’s leading travel brands including Abercrombie & Kent, American Express Vacations, Exclusive Resorts, Holland America Line and Seabourn Cruise Line. Luggage Forward has been twice named to the Inc 500|5000 list, ranked as the #9 fastest growing privately held travel company in the United States in 2012. For more information, visit www.luggageforward.com or call 866-416-7447.

For decades, fossil fuel companies have enjoyed the benefit of master limited partnerships (MLPs). A MLP is a business structure that acts like a corporation with its corporate stock trading on the open market, but is taxed as a partnership rather than at the corporate tax rate. This allows investors to buy and sell their shares in the public markets, and project developers to access cheaper capital through the markets. It’s an attractive tax benefit to be a MLP; an advantage that is inaccessible currently to renewable energy investment.

Since the 1980s, Congress has enabled investors to bundle energy projects like oil and gas pipelines and other fossil fuel developments from companies that extract, process or transport “depletable” natural resources and exempted them from corporate income taxes. The word “depletable” specifically excludes renewable energy.

U.S. Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, introduced a bill last year that would give wind, solar and other renewable projects the same tax benefit. The Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act was re-introduced this week by a bipartisan group of senators.

In order to effectively combat climate change, renewables need to be priced at, or better yet, lower than fossil fuels. It’s easier to sell shares to individuals and institutional investors such as pension funds when renewable projects are set up as MLPs. Widening the pool of potential investors adds new competition, which could lower the cost of financing projects, and in the end reduce the cost of renewable power.

Is leveling the playing field for wind, solar and other renewable projects the magic bullet to renewable energy investment? No, but it is a step in the right direction. The Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act is actually part of a broader toolkit, one that the federal government has used successfully in the past to develop domestic energy resources. Tax benefits such as the Production Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit remain essential tools within the renewable energy industry.

Other tax reforms the industry and its supporters say will help level the playing field with fossil fuels include allowing renewable companies to organize as real estate investment trusts (REITs) and letting renewable tax credits be claimed by more types of investors. In December of 2012, a bipartisan group of 29 U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to the President calling for changes to both MLPs and REITs.

Even with bipartisan support in a deeply divided Congress, the bill faces some serious obstacles. A 2011 Congressional Research Service report estimated that extending MLPs to renewable energy companies would cost the U.S. Treasury about $2.8 billion between 2010 and 2014. At the moment, the broad political momentum in Congress involves eliminating loopholes and exemptions in order to raise revenue and lower tax rates. The report suggests that if leveling the playing field is the endgame, the alternative is closing the tax loophole for oil and gas companies.

BOSTON, April 26, 2013 – Luggage Forward, the leading provider of doorstep to destination luggage delivery, marks the fifth anniversary of offering carbon-neutral door-to-door luggage shipments for travelers worldwide. Luggage Forward’s Carbon Offset Program began in 2008 in partnership with Carbonfund.org, the leading nonprofit provider of carbon offset and climate solutions.

Since the program’s inception, thousands of clients have chosen to offset the carbon emissions generated shipping luggage from their home directly to their destination. The amount of carbon offset during the life of this program is equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions from more than 41,000 gallons of gasoline consumed, or the equivalent of taking 76 passenger vehicles off the road for a year.

“Many of our clients appreciate having the option to offset the carbon impact of their travel, so that the spectacular places they visit can be preserved for generations to come,” said Zeke Adkins, Co-Founder of Luggage Forward, “we’re pleased to have given our clients this choice since 2008.”

Luggage Forward was the first, and remains the only, door-to-door luggage delivery service to offer such a program. However, many major shipping providers have since joined this effort and now offer carbon neutral shipping. To mark the fifth consecutive year of participation in the CarbonFree® Shipping Program, Carbonfund.org will be planting 50 trees in recognition of Luggage Forward at the end of the year.

About Luggage ForwardSince 2004, Luggage Forward has set the standard in door-to-door delivery of luggage and sports equipment. The smart alternative to carrying and checking bags, Luggage Forward’s service is transforming today’s travel experience for those who demand the utmost in convenience, reliability and predictability. By leveraging a worldwide network of shipping partners, innovative technology and honest, unparalleled customer care Luggage Forward guarantees that bags will be delivered safely and on-time.

In addition to being a Virtuoso® Preferred Supplier, the company is the exclusive luggage delivery provider for many of the world’s leading travel brands including Abercrombie & Kent, American Express Vacations, Exclusive Resorts, Holland America Line and Seabourn Cruise Line. Luggage Forward has been twice named to the Inc 500|5000 list, ranked as the #9 fastest growing privately held travel company in the United States in 2012. For more information, visit www.luggageforward.com or call 866-416-7447.

The Internet is flooded with green buying guides and “Ask Angie” referrals and recommendations for all types of customer goods and services. But how do you decide upon a reliable source? Direct experience and expertise certainly makes a difference, and one of our new CarbonFree® Business Partners provides just that when it comes to selecting the best and safest products for the family dog.

Pet Expertise is a small family-run business owned by Jessica Rollins, who was inspired to create Pet Expertise in order to help her dog training clients make informed product choices for their pets. Jessica is a certified positive dog trainer through the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She personally tests each dog product for quality then creates thorough and detailed descriptions to help you select the right product for your dog.

Pet Expertise specializes in dog supplies that are safe and effective, and this year, Jessica took the additional step to make her business CarbonFree®. This measure is an important component to Pet Expertise’s environmental focus and part of their “brag list”, which also includes reusing shipping boxes and packaging, purchasing biodegradable shipping materials, and sourcing products that are made in the USA of natural materials.

“We love the earth and all of its creatures and do our best to make the world a better place in all of our activities through Pet Expertise,” states Jessica.

Pet Expertise claims a leader-in-the-pack position for dog products and training by including a strong environmental sustainability component to its overall operations and becoming a CarbonFree® business.

Jana, Inc. leading the bottled water industry to a more carbon-neutral future

ANN ARBOR, Mich., USA and ZAGREB, Croatia (April 17, 2013) – Leading South Eastern Europe bottled water producer Jana, Inc. (dba Jamnica d.d.) has earned CarbonFree® certification from Carbonfund.org and NSF Sustainability, a division of global public health organization NSF International. CarbonFree® product certification is a credible, transparent way for Jana to provide carbon-neutral bottled water products to its customers in North America.

Carbon footprints, water quality and safety are important topics to consumers. An independent survey conducted on behalf of NSF International revealed that 55 percent of safety-minded consumers* are concerned about their carbon footprint, and 61 percent are concerned about the quality and safety of bottled water products.

Jamnica, as part of Agrokor Company, is the largest manufacturer of natural mineral water and non-alcoholic beverages in Croatia with more than 180 years of tradition. To address the environmental impacts of its products, Jana underwent a detailed life cycle assessment to measure the carbon emissions produced from its bottled water products in North America. Jana then offset its carbon emissions through investment in third-party validated renewable energy, energy efficiency and forestry carbon offset projects provided by Carbonfund.org, a leading nonprofit and developer of the CarbonFree® Product Certification program, the first carbon neutral product label in North America.

In addition to CarbonFree® certification, Jana has held NSF bottled water certification since 2008. This program requires annual product testing and facility audits to ensure ongoing compliance with the strict quality and safety standards of the program.

“The NSF bottled water and CarbonFree® certification labels on Jana’s bottled water products communicate that Jana is committed to both the health and safety of its customers as well as reducing its environmental impact,” said Tom Bruursema, NSF Sustainability General Manager.

"Jana is the first product in the region certified by the Carbonfund.org Foundation, Inc. Thus, we are very proud to be environmentally friendly in keeping with our responsibilities as the biggest producer of water in Croatia," said Ivana Petricevic, Jamnica Quality Director.

“With more companies recognizing the importance and value of offering carbon-neutral products, carbon content labeling is a vital tool for companies to market their commitment to sustainability,” said Eric Carlson, President of Carbonfund.org. “Our CarbonFree®label is widely recognized by companies throughout North America as a preferred mark that assures a comprehensive process was used to achieve carbon neutrality.”

How the CarbonFree® Product Certification Program WorksThe CarbonFree® Product Certification program uses life cycle assessments (LCAs) to determine the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over a product’s entire life cycle. GHG emissions (expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents) that cannot be reduced or eliminated from the products’ life cycle are offset or ‘neutralized’ with third-party validated renewable energy, energy efficiency and forestry carbon offset projects.

A carbon offset is a verifiable reduction in carbon emissions somewhere in the world other than where the emission is generated. These external reductions offer clean energy transformation (e.g. wind, solar), sequestration (e.g. forestry) and clean technology (e.g. energy efficiency). The projects also offer a range of benefits including conservation, clean water, job creation and innovation. Credits are generated when a project is verified and registered – allowing companies to purchase these credits and offset the emissions produced in the manufacturing and use of their products. These credits are then permanently ‘retired’ on behalf of the product/company.

CarbonFree® certified products earn the use of the CarbonFree® mark along with being listed in the Carbonfund.org online product certification database. The CarbonFree® mark can be found on a variety of products today, including food, beverage, electronics and apparel.

To learn more about the CarbonFree® certification, contact Dennis Gillan at
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or visit Carbonfund.org and NSF International’s website.

About Jamnica: Jamnica, as part of Agrokor Company, is the largest manufacturer of natural mineral water and non-alcoholic beverages in Croatia with more than 180 years of tradition. Due to investments in modernization and new technologies, Jamnica has grown to be one of the most advanced European mineral water bottling plants with annual sales of more than 500 million liters.

Jamnica’s product portfolio is divided into two main groups: mineral water and soft drinks. Jamnica has three production plants in Croatia: one for natural mineral water in Jamnicka Kiselica, another for natural mineral water and non-alcoholic beverages in St. Jana and a third for fruit juices in Jastrebarsko. Jamnica also owns Sarajevski Kiseljak, the largest bottling plant for natural mineral water and non-alcoholic beverages in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the Fonyódi mineral water bottling plant in Hungary.

Jamnica is certified according to quality, environmental and food safety standards (ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001:2004 and HACCP in relation to Codex Alimentarius). Jana is Croatia's most awarded and world renowned bottled water, receiving several international awards and certificates. Jana’s natural mineral water, which is listed in the Directory of Sanitarily Approved Food Establishments for Armed Forces Procurement, has received NSF International bottled water certification to U.S. FDA standards and has a kosher certificate.

About Carbonfund.org Foundation: Carbonfund.org is a leading nonprofit climate solutions organization, making it easy and affordable for individuals, businesses and organizations to reduce their climate impact and hasten our transition to a low-carbon economy. Carbonfund.org supports innovative renewable energy, energy efficiency and forestry projects globally that reduce carbon emissions and help people. Carbonfund.org has worked with over 2,000 corporate and nonprofit partners. More at www.carbonfund.org.

About NSF International: NSF International is a global independent organization that writes standards, and tests and certifies products for the construction, food, water and consumer goods industries to minimize adverse health effects and protect the environment (nsf.org). Founded in 1944, NSF is committed to protecting human health and safety worldwide. NSF International has been collaborating with the World Health Organization since 1997 in water quality and safety, food safety and indoor environments.

NSF Sustainability draws upon this expertise in standards development, product assurance and certification, advisory services and quality management systems to help companies green their products, operations, systems and supply chains. Product assessments include testing and certification for more sustainable consumer and commercial products. Through its National Center for Sustainability Standards, NSF also develops sustainability standards for products such as carpet, flooring and other commercial building materials.

*Safety-minded consumers are defined as U.S. consumers between the ages of 25-54 that qualify on at least three of the four following criteria: 1) drink bottled or filtered water, 2) take dietary supplements, 3) read product labels, 4) seek information on product safety or certification.

CarbonFree Certification from NSF International and Carbonfund.org demonstrates product is environmentally friendly and carbon neutral

ANN ARBOR, Mich. & LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. (April 16, 2013) - Motorola Mobility LLC has added a CarbonFree® certified product to its list of mobile devices and accessories that are sold to customers as carbon neutral products. Previous products include the Motorola MOTO W233 Renew, EcoMoto car charger, Motorola CITRUS and the P793 and P893 universal portable power products, all of which demonstrate Motorola Mobility's efforts to identify ways to reduce the carbon impact of its business. The latest addition the series is the Motorola P4000 – a universal dual-charging portable power pack.

With the CarbonFree Product Certification Program, Motorola has mitigated the energy spent to manufacture, distribute and use the product. This label, jointly offered by NSF International’s Sustainability Division and Carbonfund.org, ensures that customers are using a product that has been carbon offset through high standard, third-party verified carbon reduction projects. The label is a meaningful, transparent way for consumers to recognize environmentally friendly, carbon neutral products.

“Earning CarbonFree certification from NSF International underscores Motorola’s commitment to the environment and helps Motorola address an increasingly important consumer concern. During a recent consumer survey conducted on behalf of NSF International, more than 50 percent of those surveyed expressed concerns about their own personal carbon footprint,” said Tom Bruursema, General Manager of NSF Sustainability.

Other products made by Motorola that are CarbonFree certified include the Motorola MOTO W233 Renew, EcoMoto car charger and the Motorola CITRUS.

Motorola P793, P893 and P4000 universal portable chargers are compatible with all USB charging mobile devices including iPhone, Blackberry, Samsung, LG, Nokia, and others. In addition, the devices also boast the ability to charge two devices at once, providing up to five extra hours of talk time for your mobile phone. The Motorola P4000 is available through multiple retail outlets.

About Carbonfund.org Foundation: Carbonfund.org is a leading nonprofit climate solutions organization, making it easy and affordable for individuals, businesses and organizations to reduce their climate impact and hasten our transition to a low-carbon economy. Carbonfund.org supports innovative renewable energy, energy efficiency and forestry projects globally that reduce carbon emissions and help people. Carbonfund.org has worked with over 2,000 corporate and nonprofit partners. More at www.carbonfund.org.

About NSF International: NSF International is a global, independent organization that writes standards, and tests and certifies products for the food, water and consumer goods industries to minimize adverse health effects and protect the environment (nsf.org). Founded in 1944, NSF is committed to protecting human health and safety worldwide. NSF is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Food and Water Safety and Indoor Environment. NSF Sustainability draws upon this expertise in standards development, product assurance and certification, advisory services and quality management systems to help companies green their products, operations, systems and supply chains. Product assessments include testing and certification for sustainable products such as green chemicals and building products. Through its National Center for Sustainability Standards, NSF also develops sustainability standards for products such as carpet, flooring, and other commercial building materials. Additional NSF services include Education and Training, safety audits for the food and water industries, organic certification provided by QAI (Quality Assurance International) and management systems registrations delivered through NSF International Strategic Registrations (NSF-ISR). NSF-ISR services include ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems registration, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Chain of Custody (COC) certifications.

Earth Day is a universally loved celebration day. It is not narrowly defined as religious, nationalistic, familial, war-related or governmental. Rather, it is globally recognized day to celebrate the wonders of Mother Earth that we all share, with more than one billion people around the world expected to take part in some form of commemorating the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day. It is also a day intended to encourage everyone to stop, reflect on the state of our Earth and the environment, and consider what each of us can do to improve, enhance and preserve our world.

Carbonfund.org is proud to acknowledge our many business partners that are doing their part to honor Earth Day and helping to protect our natural environment.

We lead off with global IT services leader CA Technologies and its significant commitment to host the annual CA World event, its largest global gathering of customers and partners, during Earth Week as a completely CarbonFree® Event.

“Sustainability is integral to our business and we believe it’s important to lead by example,” explained Cynthia Curtis, chief sustainability officer, CA Technologies. “Ensuring CA World 2013 is a carbon neutral event demonstrates to customers, partners and employees that we are serious about our sustainability commitment. We believe that sustainability isn’t just the right thing to do -- it’s smart business.”

CarbonFree® Business Partner Solosso Pte LTD of Switzerland, offering beautifully custom-designed men’s dress shirts to the world’s executives, chose Earth Day 2013 to launch a new campaign to plant a tree for each shirt purchased by its customers.

“As a clothing company, we want to lead the way to sustainability in an industry that is infamous for its carbon emissions,” says Jan Klimo, Head of Business Development at Solosso.

Nextiva, a leading unified communications and business VoIP service provider, and a CarbonFree® Business for the past five years, is planting a tree for each of its customers this Earth Day.

“We feel the tree planting activities align perfectly with our goal of being a “green” organization. We have a strong commitment to providing great customer service, so we are honoring our customers with tree planting certificates as “thank you” notes to recognize their loyalty to Nextiva,” explains Kambria Nagy, Marketing Communications Manager at Nextiva.

MaMa Organic Market of Bethesda, Maryland has launched a program to plant one tree for every customer purchase. This is an important initiative intended to honor the store’s namesake, who they lost at a young age, and whose commitment to nature and the world’s less fortunate creatures inspires the company’s dedication to sustainable operations and customer service.

Carbonfund.org business partner Nice Touch Communications (NTC), based in New York City, was an early leader in charitable giving programs with its Telecom for CharityEvery Day is Earth Day initiative. NTC is a sales and consulting firm that has been providing voice and data solutions for over 15 years, and they launched Telecom for Charity in 2008. NTC works with businesses, non-profits, charities and other organizations to provide top tier telecom services while also donating 5% of each customer’s monthly telecom bill to their selected charity through the Telecom for Charity program.

"We wholeheartedly believe in what Carbonfund.org is doing; and feel our program can be a great way to generate support with minimal effort for a long time to come," says Jay Frank, Program Director for Telecom for Charity.

These are but a few examples of the ways that Carbonfund.org is working in conjunction with our loyal business partners to help them honor the environment on Earth Day and beyond.

Sometimes the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow, temporarily stalling renewable energy production. When that happens, what fuel source fills in the energy gap? Traditionally the answer was coal, but due to increased supply and low prices, the answer of late has been natural gas. Coal is certainly the dirtier of the two fossil fuels, but natural gas is not a perfect choice either. The increased supply in natural gas was achieved through the process of hydraulic fracturing (called fracking), which can be harmful to the environment.

Last spring natural gas prices fell to all-time lows of $2 to $3 per thousand cubic feet in the United States. This spring natural gas prices are on the rise. In fact, they’ve doubled to just over $4 per thousand cubic feet, but the bottom line is natural gas is still pretty cheap. Experts say prices in the $4 or $5 range won’t affect the increasing use of the fuel by consumers and the energy industry since the price was $8 just a few years ago. In Europe and Asia prices are even higher; think $10 to $14.

According to a Citibank research report, “Gas and renewables could in fact be the making of each other in the short term.” Expect renewables to cost about the same as conventional fuels in many parts of the world “in the very near term.” Mark Brownstein, an associate vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund, noted that the price of renewable energy has declined substantially in recent years, and that’s expected to continue, making them even more competitive. As demand for renewables builds, it will in turn “drive demand for more gas-fired” power plants to be used as backup.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) missed an April 13 deadline to issue much-anticipated new rules limiting carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants. Proposed a year ago, the rules were first to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new plants. Once a limit is set for new facilities, the EPA is legally obligated to address existing plants, which pose the true climate threat at the moment. The US’ power plant fleet is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Acting EPA Administrator Bob Perciasepe said last week that the agency expects to propose new rules on greenhouse gases from existing plants in fiscal 2014.

The draft rule for new power plants sets a limit of 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour of electricity. That cutoff point would be easy for natural-gas-fired plants to meet, but not conventional coal plants. Already, power companies build natural gas plants almost exclusively because of the low price of gas.

There is speculation that the EPA’s indefinite delay on the new rules limiting carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants is due to second thoughts at the EPA and the White House over the single standard. The EPA is said to be contemplating setting two standards, one for coal plants and the other for natural gas, which might make the new rule more legally defensible in an attempt to avert the inevitable legal wrangling that goes on whenever the EPA sets a new rule including limitations.

Environmental groups argue that separate standards make little sense. “Setting a separate standard for coal- and natural-gas-fired plants would greatly weaken the standard’s ability to ensure a transition away from building high-carbon electricity-generation sources,” said economist Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Natural gas may be the interim answer as we build our renewable energy infrastructure and then the backup once we move to a sustainable energy future. For the sake of slowing down climate change, the EPA needs to set the rules on new electricity generation plants posthaste. Then they should tackle existing power plants without delay. Global warming won’t wait.

With Earth Day (April 22) fast approaching, it is time for all of us to evaluate how our daily activities affect our planet and see what we can do about it. As of April 22, Solosso, a premium custom clothing company that lets you design your own eco-friendly custom dress shirts online, launches an initiative to plant a tree for every shirt sold, thus taking their operations from carbon neutral to carbon negative. “As a clothing company, we want to lead the way to sustainability in an industry that is infamous for its carbon emissions,” says Jan Klimo, Head of Business Development at Solosso.

The initiative is executed through the Carbonfund.org Foundation, a non-profit organization leading the fight against global warming by collecting and investing funds into high-quality carbon offset projects resulting in real carbon emission reductions, such as reforestation.

As a clothing company, we want to lead the way to sustainability in an industry that is infamous for its carbon emissions.

Jan describes Solosso’s partnership with Carbonfund.org: “We’ve been partners with Carbonfund.org for over three years now, completely offsetting our carbon footprint with their help. As of this year’s Earth Day, we are excited to go the extra mile and turn our operations from carbon neutral to carbon negative by planting a tree for every shirt we sell. As a clothing company, we want to lead the way to sustainability in an industry that is infamous for its carbon emissions.”

Plant a Tree initiatives are popular among a range of business, such as Dell, Baby Check List, Global Basecamps, or Euroloan to name a few. Money funneled into reforestation projects has an obvious positive environmental impact all over the world. Linda Kelly from Carbonfund.org explains: “Tree-planting projects benefit the environment, the atmosphere and the local community, by creating jobs in the tree-planting activities and maintaining the ongoing forest management. The tree-planting projects we support are numerous and geographic locations are worldwide. Some of our tree-planting projects are in the US, but the majority are in India, South America and Haiti.”

With Carbonfund.org’s portfolio of carbon-reducing projects worldwide, carbon offsetting is available to any individual, business or organization.

What are you or your business doing to help achieve a zero carbon world?